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Lawmakers Debate Stimulus Package; Foreclosure Crunch; Anxiety Inside General Motors; Pennsylvania City Terrorized by Arson; Voices of the Recession; Ranks of Homeless Swelling with Vets; Former KKK Member Apologizes; Lincoln on Stamps
Aired February 08, 2009 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, America waits and wonders. What will the president say in his first prime-time news conference that will help push that stimulus bill through and help struggling Americans right now?
I'm Don Lemon live in Washington, D.C. tonight. Some people have reached a boiling point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got laid off from work for about two months. I found another job, and my wife got laid off from work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And they head right for the CEO's home. What happened?
Escaping. A spreading inferno. Wildfires moving too fast for people to escape. Sadly, many are burned alive. We take you there.
Plus, this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like I'm apologizing to the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: An update on what happened after a very raw conversation live on our air last night. A former KKK member asks a high-profile congressman to forgive his hate and brutality.
The news live from Washington starts right now.
LEMON: Good evening, everyone. From Washington, hope you enjoyed your weekend because this could end up being one of the most important weeks in our nation's history. We have not seen an economy like this in decades. A bailout and a recovery are in limbo, and the heat is on for a very young administration.
President Barack Obama has been in office for just 20 days, not even a month, and already he is facing huge tests of his political leadership and enormous pressure to close a deal on an economic stimulus package. There are growing signs Americans have creeping doubts. Energized Republicans are united in their opposition and new polls suggest public support for the stimulus bill is slipping.
Plus, Mr. Obama is struggling to fill key cabinet posts. The president is working to find his voice and he holds his first prime- time news conference in less than 24 hours. He's also scheduled town hall meetings this week in Indiana and Florida.
And there is no greater illustration of the need for stimulus than this scene in Chicago. Hundreds of people lined up outside Wrigley Field, hoping to score job at the stadium. And in Stanford, Connecticut --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The furniture here symbolizes the hundreds of thousands and millions of homeowners who are losing their homes.
CROWD: Fix our loans, so we can save our homes!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: People are desperate to save their homes. More on this foreclosure protest in just a moment.
Meantime, the president is gearing up for the week ahead. He and his family return to the White House tonight, following his family's first trip to Camp David. Members of Congress are looking ahead, too. And the Sunday talk shows were filled with lawmakers making the case for and against the proposed stimulus plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: We're going down a road where it's uncharted. We're going down a road to disaster. We've never seen this kind of spending ever and there's a lot more to come. There's got to be some other way better than what we're doing, not the socialist way, but to try to get our free markets working again.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: The most important thing is that we are not going to let small differences stand in the way of passing this very strong bill, which the American economy desperately needs. To quibble over small, little things and let the bill go down would be a huge mistake for the American people, given the state of our economy and the need for a real shot in the arm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Let's dig a little bit deeper now into the stimulus plan. A political debate and a money that's at stake here. Lynn Sweet is a regular with us. She's the Washington bureau chief for "Chicago Sun- Times." And Eamon Javers covers the Wall Street and Washington for Politico.com.
Lynn, I'll start with you. This is the worst week of his presidency.
LYNN SWEET, "CHICAGO SUN-TIMES": Right. Well, and he's lucky it's only the second week because he has a time for adjusting. It's a work in progress. We saw that so vividly dramatized this week when he had two appointments just go down because of income tax troubles. Either they knew it and didn't realize the outburst that would come against people. A backlash of Tom Daschle, another nominee that -- being strayed under taxes. Or they knew it and let it go through anyway. It was just -- shouldn't have happened. All their antenna was off. Everything they did right in the campaign seemed to just be turned off this week.
LEMON: So, Eamon, let's talk about that backlash because even some of his biggest proponents, when he was running for president, Maureen Dowd of "The New York Times," also Frank Rich, really writing very critical editorials about him this morning saying that Prince Charming was looking into the mirror and seeing Abraham Lincoln instead of realizing what was going on. That's what Maureen Dodd said. And then Frank Rich has also, as I said, criticized, saying, you know, welcome to Washington basically.
EAMON JAVERS, POLITICO.COM: Yes, that's like that rookie hit you get in the NFL, and the big guy stands over you and says, welcome to the NFL, kid. I mean, that's sort of where Barack Obama was this past week. It was a real slap in the face.
But going into tomorrow's big press conference, I think you got to say that it's advantaged Obama. Even though he had a rude welcome to Washington, D.C., tomorrow's he's got a lot of the advantages. It looks like he's got the votes to get cloture, which is a very important vote in the Senate tomorrow. So he'll have the advantage going into that press conference tomorrow night. He's got to turn this thing around, and he's got about 24 hours to start to do that.
LEMON: Hang on, hang on, Lynn. But what's in this before we -- before we go much further? What is in the stimulus for people? When is it and when might it get to middle America, everyone, to help out.
JAVERS: Well, at this point we're looking at a whole bunch of spending, a lot of tax cuts, and what we're seeing over the weekend is that the numbers have been moving around. It's not clear exactly what's going to be in this thing by the time they vote on it. And you would hope that the senators have a chance to actually read this thing.
But don't forget that it's going to change again because even once the Senate passes it, this is the way the sausage is made, they've got to go into committee with the House and start negotiations all over again. So, this is a big moving part.
LEMON: Get it moving first so we get it done quickly? Or does it matter what's in it, how much pork? Everyone -- some people say just get the economy moving, and really it doesn't have to be perfect right now.
JAVERS: There are a lot of economists who say, you know what, if you're going to spend, start spending, hit the pedal to the meadow and go, and whatever you do, it gets money into the economy and starts generating some jobs. There are a lot of people who believe that. LEMON: Let us chomp -- let this chomping (ph) at the bit to get in here. Lynn, what is he opening himself up to by going live 8:00 p.m. in front of all these reporters who want to know what's going on. Is this a good move or bad move?
SWEET: Well, it's a reasonable move. What he's doing is taking the campaign. What you'll see in the next few days is a campaign- style Obama operation. He's taking the bully pulpit down the road to Elkhart, Indiana and Ft. Myers, Florida. You know, the White House is busy bringing in constituent groups. He has activated his millions of movement people. They're supposed to be holding house parties to have -- keep the stimulus or recovery. That's the word that they prefer in the Obama White House. And they're doing it at organizing.
But no matter what happens with this bill, the part that I think will remain in it, and the first spending to go out the door will be millions and billions of dollars to the states for road and construction projects. That part seems ready to go no matter what, while they talk about the balance between tax cuts and spending.
LEMON: All right. Lynn Sweet, Eamon Javers, thank you both very much for that. Make sure you stick around because we're going to talk to you a little bit more.
Talking so much about the stimulus, but there's another huge economic plan that Lynn mentioned. It is this economic recovery plan that we have been talking about. It's propping up Wall Street and thawing the credit freeze here. We'll break down the recovery plan and what it means to you, just moments away.
But first, more than 4 million people have lost their jobs since the recession began more than a year ago and those who still have jobs wonder how long they can hang on to them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT MCMILLIN, INDIANAPOLIS AUTO WORKER: You just don't know. It's all a crapshoot. My dad worked for 27 years and retired from the foundry that I started in. His job was secure from day one. Nowadays, an auto worker is pretty much a modern-day gypsy, moving from plant to plant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The faces of recession. We introduce you to them.
Many economists say the economy won't truly start to recover until we see an end to the housing crisis, especially the wave of foreclosures. The Obama administration insists it will spend billions to help more Americans keep their homes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE SUMMERS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: He's very committed to foreclosures. I expect that it will be $50 billion or more that will be directed at providing support for the housing sector of our economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The foreclosure crunch is causing some people to resort to what you could call unconventional forms of protest. They're taking their complaints straight to the top, demanding help from bank CEOs in person, and they're uninvited, of course. We get more from Mark Repasky of News 12 Connecticut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've arrived in my home.
MARK REPASKY, NEWS12 CONNECTICUT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alex and Analicia (ph) never expected to find themselves on this kind of home tour.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are mansions compared to our home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got laid off from work for about two months. I found another job, and my wife got laid off from work.
REPASKY: That sent the couple back two months on their mortgage, costing more than $24,000. He says he tried to work it out with his lender.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like they've been taking me like a sucker.
REPASKY: Now, he's sitting next to hundreds just like him, headed to the homes of big bank CEOs who, NACA CEO Bruce Marks says, aren't helping keep homeowners out of foreclosure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here to say we're personalizing it. We're not going to allow you to stop these modifications from happening.
REPASKY: At Bill Price's (ph) house on Glenville Road in Greenwich, couches and living room furniture fill the front yard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a person that has sued Bank of America to stop the modifications from going on.
REPASKY: No one appeared to be home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, everybody. Come on, we're going.
REPASKY: But a different story on the front steps of Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack's Rye estate. Pushing past police --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep the lines always.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
REPASKY: It may not get Analicia (ph) out of foreclosure, but now they feel they've been heard. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They see who we are now. They know who we are. That's right. They know who we are right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Mark Repasky of News 12 Connecticut. We have been asking you -- we always ask you to be part of our show and send in your comments. Here's what some of you are saying.
Meede says, "Shelby hasn't seen spending like that. Open your brain. What do you call Iraq? That really helps the economy. Not."
Ctguy2675, "Republicans in Congress seem to be playing political hard ball. However, it's clear that some sort of stimulus needs to pass.
Eastern25 says, "Why so much opposition from the right on spending. Everyone around President Obama seems to have a microscope looking over them. No break."
As always, we want you to be an active part of our newscast tonight. Logon to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com. Give us your comments. We will get them on the air.
The economy and the stimulus bill are sure to be the focus of President Barack Obama's first prime-time news conference tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and, of course, you can see it right here live on CNN.
Facing a tough financial fact of life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it don't work out here at this facility and there's nowhere else to go, I'll do what I have to do to get by.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Auto workers at a plant that's downsizing wonder how long they could hold on to their jobs. These are "The Faces of Recession."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Response from one of our regulars here on the show. Ctguy2675 says, "Here in Connecticut, we have countless $1 million plus homes. Many of these now have signs out front saying bank owned."
Send us your thoughts, as well. Be a part of our show. Logon to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com and tell us what you're thinking.
President Obama travels tomorrow to Elkhart, Indiana, and there he'll explain to Americans how the stimulus plan will help them. At a General Motors plant in Indianapolis, economic recovery can't come soon enough. The main thing rolling off the factory floor these days is anxiety about the future. Here's CNN chief national correspondent John King.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): General Motors plant in Indianapolis.
JAMES KENDALL, PRES., UAW LOCAL 23: I was tickled to death when I'm hired in here. I mean, I'm working for the largest corporation in America. I mean, I was just on cloud nine.
KING: Thirty-four hundred workers when James Kendall arrived 18 years ago.
(on camera): And how many now?
KENDALL: Well, after a layoff they're fixing to have, there will be roughly 630 folks working.
KING (voice-over): Inside on Friday, GM officials tried to sell those union workers on a buyout plan. The company says shrinking its workforce is critical to becoming more competitive. Kendall will say no as will Scott McMillin. Indianapolis is his third GM plant in the past 15 years. He has a daughter in college.
SCOTT MCMILLIN, INDIANAPOLIS AUTO WORKER: If I did retire now from General Motors, I would be looking for another job and they're just not out there.
KING: But saying no is a gamble. GM has talked of closing this plant altogether.
MCMILLIN: You just don't know. It's all a crapshoot. My dad worked for 27 years and retired from the foundry that I started in. His job was secure from day one. Nowadays, an auto worker is pretty much a modern-day gypsy, moving from plant to plant.
KING: Workers who say the buyout isn't enough, no lay offs later could mean nothing.
(on camera): What if doesn't work out? What happens to you?
KENDALL: Well, I don't know. We'll see. If it don't work out here at this facility, and there's nowhere else to go, I'll do what I have to do to get by. It's just snowballing into a massive, massive unemployment. And I don't think we've seen the end of it. All you have to do is watch the news and it's depressing, really.
KING (voice-over): John King, CNN, Indianapolis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And you can see more of John King's reporting every Sunday. "STATE OF THE UNION" airs 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.
Caught in an inferno, dozens of them. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw the floorboards on fire and the windows smashed and thought it was coming in the windows and the door caught on fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Massive wildfires take a deadly and historic toll. We take you right to the heart of it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Hundreds of thousands of acres in Australia are burning right now as the nation battles the worst wildfires in its history. The flames have killed at least 111 people and destroyed hundreds of homes. Victoria in the southeast is seeing the worst of it. People are fleeing their homes with just the clothes on their backs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw the floorboards on fire and the windows smashed and thought it was coming in the windows and the door caught on fire. So we sort of had to call to leave and how to open the door just a million degrees in your face, but we put a blanket around all four of us and headed back towards the back and ran through the fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The fires are moving so fast that some people can't get out of the way. They're simply burned alive. Thousands of weary firefighters are on the front lines but the fires are still burning out of control.
Meantime, back here in the U.S., kids in Coatesville better be off the streets right now. The arson terrorize -- Pennsylvania City, I should say, is doing whatever it can to fend off serial arsonists. Coatesville is extending its overnight curfew for everyone under 18.
Plus, police are ready to fine people up to $600 if they don't remove flammable items from their porches. Just this year, 23 fires in and around Coatesville were found to be arsons. This latest one destroyed mobile homes -- a mobile home late Friday night. Last year, a string of arsons also hit the city which is just outside of Philadelphia.
As always, we want to know what's on your mind. We want you to be an active part of our newscast as well tonight. Here's what some of you are saying.
Thinkforward says, "I'm wondering why everyone is quick to judge a stimulus package. We're setting precedence here. New problems, new solutions."
Talgregory says, "They want to get money flowing for bank loans, but who is going to take out a loan if they don't have a job to pay it back?"
Indydad says, "I can't even apply for unemployment because I work for a nonprofit who isn't able to pay me and there is so much work to be done."
Some of our panelists here are shaking their heads at some of these comments. I want to talk to them about that in a little bit. Make sure you logon to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com. We'll get your comments on the air.
You've heard a lot about the multi-billion dollar stimulus plan Congress is working on right now, but what do you know about the recovery plan that the Treasury secretary unveils on Tuesday. Did you even know -- they're not the same? We'll find out. We'll break it down for you, break down the difference.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: And thanks for sending us your thoughts tonight. Here's what Pkanan is saying, "Don, why isn't anyone discussing the possibility of student loan debt forgiveness as a means of stimulating the economy?" Keep your comments coming. Think some of our panelists like that.
All the talk about the stimulus has overshadowed the other big money issue that's awaiting action by the Obama administration -- deciding the best way to spend the remaining $350 in the remaining bailout funds. That's the government's financial industry recovery package. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will unveil his plans on Tuesday.
So, let's talk about the struggling financial industry and the best way to spend those billions in the recovery plan. Lynn Sweet of the "Chicago Sun-Times" and Eamon Javers of "Politico.com." They are both back.
You know, we were talking about this recovery, stimulus, you know, bailout, there's so many of them. There are a couple of them. You kind of get confused about which is which.
JAVERS: And of them are hundreds of billions of dollars. There's a lot of money going out the door real fast right here. But what people should know is that the stimulus bill that we were talking about was that $820 billion something package is entirely separate from another effort that the Obama administration is going to be engaging in, which is reforming the banking system to try to fix this mess that got us here in the first place by changing a lot of the rules on banks.
One of the highlights of that, that we're told to expect this week when they unveil this thing, is that they're going to talk about how to lower people's home mortgages down, to cram down the mortgages so that people actually who are suffering and can't quite pay the mortgage can actually pay a lower amount, ultimately, month by month and stay in their homes. That would be a very interesting proposal, very radical proposal. But that's one of the things under discussion. They're going to unveil that after they get done with the stimulus here because Washington can only chew gum and walk at the same time. You can't do three things at the same time.
LEMON: Yes. It's interesting because, you know, as I said, there are so many of them, there are a couple of them. You don't really know which one. Lynn Sweet, you have a unique perspective having, you know, the bureau chief Chicago, followed President Obama since the beginning. If you had any advice and also, you're very well versed in Washington, what advice would you give this administration this week as it comes up to, you know, unveiling all these packages trying to get them through.
SWEET: Thanks for those kind words. I don't know if they need advice from me. But I was surprised that they didn't do the housing piece early -- first, because that's what people need today and tomorrow when you have foreclosures and if there's even -- there might have been some temporary measures that were talked about during the campaign. The Obama team were reluctant to sign an end to moratorium on foreclosures. The proposal that might come out there is something.
I think the big decision, and this isn't advice, but the big decision is, do you want the bill fast or do you want the bill with Republican votes on it? The House version passed with no Republican votes. As we speak now, the most that we think the Senate bill will get are three Republicans and they're not even committed to the final, final vote.
LEMON: And here's a criticism, again, that we've been reading is that when you go into the White House, obviously, the trouble that you face is becoming isolated, right? That's the chance that you take and most presidents have gotten that criticism. But even this morning on the airplane, as I was coming here, the man sitting next to me said, you know what, sometimes I don't think the folks in Washington realize what's going on. Because as I leave Atlanta, which is clearly depressed and the city is fighting for money, and I go to Washington, D.C., doesn't seem like anyone is in a recession because people are out eating, enjoying themselves.
JAVERS: And the city here, I mean, lobbyists are doing really well, right? Because all of these companies have interests in Washington so they're spending gazillions on lobbying right now. The city is not really hurting here in town.
SWEET: The city, actually, some of our suburbs here have been whacked by the housing issue. But the government industry here does make this less sensitive to the recession, though. People are suffering. But as far as the Obama administration, big decisions are, do they use the bully pulpit in a way that gets the bill through and then, are they able to have some metric, some measure out there that shows that you have survived this stuff (ph) or that there is some progress towards something.
Massive unemployment figures just came out. We're going to have probably the biggest spending bill of the Obama term coming through this week. There is not -- you know, it's not easy spending that much money that fast.
LEMON: We got to run. I just want to -- on Thursday, just a yes or no. Were you surprised by the reaction when he went to Virginia?
JAVERS: I was, yes.
LEMON: You were?
SWEET: It was the Obama back in campaign mode and that's what he's going to be in this week.
LEMON: OK. Thank you, both, for joining us late on this Sunday night.
JAVERS: Thank you.
SWEET: Thank you.
LEMON: We really appreciate it. So, I'll see you all next week.
JAVERS: All right.
LEMON: We'll see what happens come Tuesday. It's going to be very interesting. That's what they're saying inside the Beltway, all of these folks that we have been talking to and everyone here. But what are they saying elsewhere?
Radio host Martha Zoller, hey, Martha, and Warren Ballentine are in the house.
Hi, Warren.
They have a lot to say tonight. So get ready to rumble with our radio hosts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Here's some of your feedback. Danflorio says, "The Tarp was for Wall Street. The stimulus bill is for the people. But what's up with all the tax cuts in it? They don't stimulate."
Dantheman1980 says, "Why doesn't anyone suggest a border fence in the stimulus plan?
Greatshovelready says, "Jobs, great for security, great for everyone."
Normalwithview say, "Why can't he just send bailout money directly to the American people? Obviously, none of them care."
Cthaye says, "We cannot afford to give a stimulus package. We are broke. Where is the money coming from? China already owns us on paper." Send us more, your thoughts, we'll get them on.
A critical week ahead for Congress. President Barack Obama and the rest of us. The Senate stimulus bill is expected to pass on Tuesday. It then has to be reconciled with a more expensive stimulus package already passed by the House. President Obama is calling on lawmakers to iron out their differences and do it quickly. He wants a bill that he can sign into law by the middle of the month.
Now, I have three words for you. Stimulus, recovery and young, as in young presidency. A young administration. We have been talking extensively about all three and so have these two all week.
Martha Zoller and Warren Ballentine, both host their own syndicated radio shows.
All right, guys, each of you has 60 seconds to run down the highlights of your shows, what are people buzzing about? Martha, you ready?
MARTHA ZOLLER, RADIO HOST, "MARTHA ZOLLER SHOW": I'm ready. I'm always ready.
LEMON: You're up. Let's go. Time is ticking.
ZOLLER: I tell you, first of all, the folks we're talking about Michael Steel, and we had him on on Monday. And he has got to convince conservatives, especially Christian conservatives that he is going to be conservative enough and he's been coming out swinging. But mainly the rest of the week, it was stimulus, stimulus, stimulus. You've got listeners that are being hit on all sides. You've got the local governments talking about things and the state governments talking about raising your taxes. And then now this number in this federal government program that people just can't get their arms around.
And I got to tell you what they like to see is more tax cuts, what my listeners would like to see is more tax cuts and that kind of thing. They're very frustrated about this process and they're very happy that Republicans are standing firm.
And I don't think, you know, the question always gets asked about whether it is standing with the president or not. Well, you can stand with the president on your principles or oppose him on the principles. That doesn't mean that you don't want him to be successful. So they talked about that. And the final thing that was just a big surprise I thought for me was Michael Phelps.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Martha, you're up, sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. OK, you're up.
ZOLLER: I was less than a minute. I was watching the clock.
LEMON: All right, Warren. Hang on. Let's go. There you go. WARREN BALLENTINE, RADIO HOST, "WARREN BALLENTINE SHOW": You know, the three big things on my show this week was Michael Steel. Is he an attack dog for the Republicans or President Obama? Meaning that, did they choose African-Americans so that it won't come off as racist if the Republicans are attacking him?
The second thing that was a big story on my show was the case involving Congressman Lewis, which you did a wonderful piece on on your show on Saturday night involving him and the former KKK member. Reconciling their differences is a true sign of the times.
Lastly, the stimulus package. But everybody was talking about the Ballentine plan. I have a plan to save America. You want to stimulate the economy, I've got the five-point plan that will save this country.
LEMON: Oh, Warren, you did it in 40 seconds.
BALLENTINE: Hey, I'm good like that.
LEMON: Are you at a lost for words?
BALLENTINE: I'm good like that, dog.
LEMON: It sounds like a producer was in your ear, going "you got to get to a break. Time to make money." OK.
BALLENTINE: That's on my radio show normally.
LEMON: OK. So, let's talk about what's on tap for next week, Martha. I mean, obviously, you know, we said, we talked about a young presidency. And it takes every administration a while to get its footing. But I think the challenges facing this administration are tougher than most when you have an economy like this. And, let's face it, the president's right. He was handed this. So it's going to take a while.
ZOLLER: Well, of course, it's going to take a while. We didn't get into this overnight. I mean, we've got many of the same problems we had 16 years ago. But I think that what this week people are going to be talking about again is the stimulus package and how this goes forward, and then they're going to roll out the TARP money. And I think you made a great point in the last segment that a lot of people don't know that all these things are different things and then it adds up to about $8 trillion. It's a lot of money.
LEMON: Yes, hey, Warren, do you think the honeymoon period is over as I begin to read newspapers and read some of the criticism, I'm like, wow, man, this happened really quickly.
BALLENTINE: Well, he didn't have a honeymoon period. In fact, what I was predicting three weeks before he was inaugurated, that January 21st will officially be called Blame President Obama Day.
LEMON: Yes, you did say that. You did say that. BALLENTINE: You know, because everything will be his fault after January 20th. Now, you know, one thing we have this young presidency and this young administration, but it's very easy to fix this problem in my opinion. If you would do just five things -- one, if you want to stimulate the economy, instead of giving $800 billion to all these infrastructures and things like this, why don't you give every taxpayer $20,000. They can either save the money or invest it or do whatever they need to do.
Two, make federal unitary loss. Three, give us a one-year moratorium on mortgages. Where people don't have to pay on mortgage. They can save that money or invest that money or use it to fix their credit.
LEMON: OK.
ZOLLER: I make it easier with one point.
BALLENTINE: And five, buy American.
LEMON: OK. Go Ahead, Martha. You get the last word.
ZOLLER: One point, suspend all taxes for three months. That $600 billion...
BALLENTINE: I agree. I agree.
ZOLLER: It would put money in their pockets today.
LEMON: OK. So, who's going to keep track on American spending like they are with the folks on Wall Street if we give Americans all these moratoriums?
ZOLLER: I trust -- I trust Americans spending their own money.
BALLENTINE: Don, this is the greatest country in the world. We'll do the right thing if you give us the opportunity.
LEMON: Very well-said. Thank you. I knew you were going to say that. You said that to me on the radio.
BALLENTINE: Yes, I did.
LEMON: Thank you, Warren. Hey, you guys, we really appreciate it. Thank you so much.
BALLENTINE: Thank you.
ZOLLER: Thank you.
LEMON: And you just heard Warren mention the story, a former Klansman reaching out to Congressman John Lewis apologizing for beating him more than 50 years ago. Well, last night they joined me in the CNN NEWSROOM to share their emotional story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, like I'm apologizing to the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: In just a few minutes, their entire raw conversation. You don't want to miss it. It's something that you really need to see. Seconds away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Another disturbing signs of the times. The ranks of the homeless appear to be swelling with military veterans. Some were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan as recently as just a few years ago. We get more now from Jared Dillingham of our affiliate in phoenix, KTVK.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JARED DILLINGHAM, KTVK CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From a heap of hundreds of coats collected for homeless veterans, only a few remain.
ART SLOAN, VOLUNTEER ORGANIZER: It's just a fraction of what we had.
DILLINGHAM: The influx of homeless vets this year has overwhelmed volunteers that the annual stand down event.
SLOAN: And they had to go out and buy more underwear and more socks and everything because we have so many more veterans.
DILLINGHAM: Veterans needing help with everything from food to haircuts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I know exactly what you mean.
DILLINGHAM: Gabriel Hernandez says this is the first year he and many of his fellow veterans have had to ask for help.
GABRIEL HERNANDEZ, VETERAN: Wow, it's just a great thing.
DILLINGHAM: And helping the homeless vets is therapeutic for some of the volunteers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're good to go.
HERNANDEZ: Excellent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're welcome.
DILLINGHAM: Sharon Grassi's son is on his second tour in Iraq.
SHARON GRASSI, ARMY MOM: It's amazing to me that there are that many homeless on our streets that are that veterans.
DILLINGHAM: But veterans we talk to are not surprised. DERVIN THOMAS, VETERAN: It's rough. It's rough. The economy is bad. People need help.
DILLINGHAM: Dervin Thomas, a Desert Storm vet, joined the long lines waiting for a legal, medical and housing help.
THOMAS: This has been a blessing for me.
DILLINGHAM: Volunteers say they're also seeing more female veterans needing help this year and a sudden influx of vets who served in Iraq and Afghanistan struggling after returning from duty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, those are the faces of recession now -- the homeless and veterans.
These are some people who have been sending in their thoughts and we want you to do it, please.
Jason Holler (ph) says "Most people I know already have so much credit that it is difficult to pay back. Why extend more credit to these people only to get deeper debt. We need debt reduction so people are not getting crushed with debt payment and can begin spending again."
Drew Baker says, "Where is the money coming from for this stimulus package? As a 26-year-old, I can't help but to look to the future and see that if this stimulus passes now, I will only be involved in another recession in several years when it all catches up. By then President Obama and his leadership will be gone and will not care as they will be sitting comfortably. I'm concerned about a quick decision now that will have long-lasting negative benefits."
As always, we want you to be an active part of our newscast. As you see, we get your thoughts on. We get them on often. Logon to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com. Tell us what you're thinking.
Asking forgiveness for an unforgivable act of hate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like I'm apologizing to the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Fifty years after a former Klansman attacked Congressman John Lewis, he reaches out and says, I'm sorry. Their emotional and honest conversation. It will move you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Pay attention to this next one. It was almost 50 years ago when Elwin Wilson and his friends attacked a black man at a bus station in South Carolina. That young black man went on to become a congressman, Congressman John Lewis, who at the time was traveling this country championing civil rights. The man who attacked him, Elwin Wilson, says he's been carrying around an apology in his heart and has been waiting for an opportunity to get it off his chest. And he did.
Here they are, Representative John Lewis and Elwin Wilson, a former KKK member. Nearly a half century has passed since that attack, and John Lewis says, all is forgiven.
I spoke with Elwin Wilson and Representative John Lewis. It was a brutally honest conversation. Listen up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (on camera): Mr. Wilson, I know you have spoken to the congressman recently, but is there anything else you would like to say to him?
ELWIN WILSON, APOLOGIZED TO REP. LEWIS: I thought about him a lot, since I left Washington. And I found out what kind of man he was, and I enjoyed the trip up there and I didn't think I would ever see the day when I would find out who I beat up at the bus station in Rocky Hill.
And it started off with -- they had a picture of -- they called them the City Sisters in Rock Hill that went to Friendship College. Then they had the Friendship Nine that went to college there. And when I saw the sisters, I had already tried and did change my life. And I'm talking about spiritually and everything.
LEMON: I'm going to continue on and let you talk in a little bit. But I just -- before we go forward, I want to get Congressman Lewis' response.
What do you say to him after -- I mean, you were beaten up, hurt pretty bad. Lots of other folks. Some people even lost their lives because of the actions of men like Elwin and Mr. Wilson. What do you say to him?
REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: Well, I said to Mr. Wilson, I met with him early during the week when he came to Washington to visit with me, and he said he wanted to apologize, and that he was sorry and I said, I forgive you. And I don't have any bitterness or hatred because it was in keeping with what we believed in, that we should have the capacity and the ability to forgive, that love is much stronger than hate. And it was very moving and very touching for me for him to come to Washington and say I'm sorry for what I did.
And Mr. Wilson for almost 50 years has been the only and the first person, the first and only person, who attacked me that said I'm sorry.
LEMON: And Congressman, I don't even know if you know this. I spoke with Mr. Wilson earlier today by telephone, and he was a little reticent on the phone to even answer. And when I told him who I was, he talked to me. But Mr. Wilson, tell him about some disturbing phone calls that you have been getting.
WILSON: Well, I got one phone call from a boy from Rutledge College. And the telephone rang, I answered it. He said, is this Elwin Wilson? I said, you're right. He said, you are slummy black n dog. And he just kept on talking. He told me, he said, here you are with KKK, took an oath and here you are going back on your word and against the white people.
LEMON: You were outraged by that phone call. And you said you had to call the police. Can you believe, Mr. Wilson, you know 2009, some 50 years after that confrontation that you had with Mr. -- with the congressman, that there's still that sort of hate in the world?
WILSON: Not as much as it used to be. I don't think.
LEWIS: But I'm sorry that someone would do something like that to you, Mr. Wilson. That someone would call and use those words and it is -- it is sad. But what you're doing I think is right and is very much in keeping with what we all believe in.
LEMON: Mr. Wilson, do you have -- people are watching. What do you want them to know about why you did it and about what we should be doing or how we should be treating the topic of race right now in this country?
WILSON: Well, I would like to put another -- add something to what we were talking about, the guy that called me. He -- I don't know why he would be like that because just like I told him, I said, one day I hope that you get the hatred out of yourself and I am -- he said, why did you change? I said, well, I said my daddy always told me that a fool never changes his mind and a smart man changes his mind. And that's what I've done, and I'm not ashamed of it.
And I'm not trying to be a Martin Luther King or something like that. It all started off with Andrew Dye and the local newspaper and snowballed on up. And I never would have thought I could apologize to this many people. I feel like I'm apologizing to the world right now.
LEMON: Well, thank you, Mr. Wilson. And Mr. Lewis, I will give you the last word on this, if you would like to comment.
LEWIS: Well, I think this shows the power of grace and love. It is very much in keeping with the philosophy and the discipline of non- violence to have the ability, the capacity to say I'm sorry, forgive me. And the person that received the attack was really forgiven. Because hate is too heavy a burden to bear. Maybe Mr. Wilson will inspire others to come forth.
LEMON: And so this is going to be the last question, but it just crossed my mind. Did you ever think that you would be in this position with someone like Mr. Wilson apologizing to you?
LEWIS: I never thought in all of these many years that someone like Mr. Wilson would be apologizing to me, no. LEMON: Well, you both are, again, very brave for doing this. And we appreciate your candor. And Mr. Wilson, thank you very much. We hope you don't get any more of those phone calls.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: We certainly thank Congressman John Lewis and Elwin Wilson for joining us. You can see more of that interview on cnn.com -- cnn.com.
Setting the style in the Obama White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: So what does the Super Bowl party at the White House look like? I mean, you can't have Chex Mix and popcorn here, can you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why not?
OGUNNAIKE: It's the White House.
OGUNNAIKE: But it's America, and so we really did celebrate America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: CNN's Lola Ogunnaike gets inside the White House with the Obama family's social secretary.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Behind every social function at the White House there's one key person who is responsible for planning every single detail. In the Obama White House that person is Desiree Rogers. She is a Chicago businesswoman with an MBA from Harvard and a close friend of the Obama's.
Lola Ogunnaike recently visited her at the White House to talk about her high-profile new gig.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OGUNNAIKE (voice-over): What went through your mind? You walk into the White House and you said I actually work here?
DESIREE ROGERS, WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL SECRETARY: Well, you know, I think what went into my mind is OK, let's get going. I did tried to like save that so that I could just focus at the beginning. But I do have a walk. I do have a walk that I take each day between the east and west wing that I do say, oh, my goodness. I really am here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Lola's full interview with Desiree Rogers will air tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING with Kiran Chetry and John Roberts 6:00 a.m. Eastern on CNN.
Here's more of your feedback. Joseph Texas says or JosephTX, "Stimulus is a trillion dollar dice roll, betting the next generation's money. Today's kid will work years to pay this gambling debt."
GrouchyMatthew said "I'd agree with no taxes for three months. California still owes me and I owe you for overpaying my taxes."
Goldenboy, "Don't people need jobs to receive the help from tax cuts? Well, I guess Republicans haven't been paying attention to the jobs reports."
As always, be an active part of our newscast. Logon to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com. We'll get your responses on and, of course, we appreciate it.
Abraham Lincoln branching out from that whole penny thing. Just days away from his 200th birthday, the 16th president is getting a special president from the post office. Honest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, this week marks Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday. Postal service is marking the occasion with four new first class stamps. They depict Lincoln at phases of his life -- rail splitter, lawyer, politician and president. Each one will cost you 42 Lincoln pennies. There you go.
Well, this Thursday CNN presents "From Lincoln to Obama." It's our bicentennial celebration of President Lincoln's life and legacy, and our exploration of the link between Lincoln and President Obama. Soledad O'Brien live in New York here at Phillips and Springfield, Illinois, and I'll be right here in Washington, our coverage 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. And of course, don't forget about the president's address tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.
I'm Don Lemon in Washington. "D.L. HUGHLEY BREAKS THE NEWS" begins right now.
